Taylor v. Stone

Citations

• 21 Miss. 652

Syllabus

<p>There is no set form of words necessary to create a separate estate in the wife ; any terms which show a manifest intention to exclude the right of the hus band, or to show that the wife’s control is independent of the husband’s power, are sufficient for the purpose.</p> <p>L., in the year 1835, conveyed, in the state of Alabama where the parties lived, certain slaves to S. and M., “ in trust for the use of five grandchildren of his, children of S. and the daughter of L. ; the said S. and wife to have the possession and use of the said slaves during their natural lives, and after the termination thereof the said slaves are to be equally and rateably divided between said grandchildren, or such of them as may be then living ; the said slaves to be at no time under the disposition of S., except for the maintenance, support, and education of said grandchildren, and to be at no time liable for any of his debts or liabilities.” S. sold one of the slaves in 1836, and after six intermediate and successive purchases, in 1841, the slave thus sold by S. was bought by T. in this state ; in 18 — , S. died, and the slave in some way got into the possession of his widow, whom T. sued for the slave : Held, that, by the deed of 1835, from L. to S. and M., the wife of S. took a separate estate during her life and to her children afterwards, beyond the reach of any act of the husband ; and that therefore the original purchaser from S. and those claiming under him, acquired no right to the slave as against the wife.</p>